Bots, bias, and bunk: How can you tell what's real on the net?

Opinion Liars, cranks, and con artists have always been with us. It's just that nowadays their reach has gone from the local pub to the globe.

Take, for example, when X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, introduced a new feature, "About this account," which includes information about a person's location. The idea was to make it easier to spot bots.

It was successful. Way too successful for the taste of some, as it quickly became apparent that many Donald Trump-touting troll accounts, such as MAGA NATION, TRUMP_ARMY_, and CharlieK_news, for all their American-flag waving, are from non-US locations. They and their ilk are bot-driven propaganda sites.

Thinking of X's brother service, the AI system Grok, its training includes such lies as former first lady Michelle Obama is a man and COVID-19 vaccines caused millions of unexplained deaths. Grok owner Elon Musk has also ordered its ...